National Diet Library Newsletter
No. 138, August 2004
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Selections from NDL Collection
Verner W. Clapp
Verner W. Clapp (1901-1972) |
Verner W. Clapp was an American librarian who contributed to the foundation of the National Diet Library (NDL) right after World War II. He was remembered by many Japanese for his passionate devotion to the job, his warm-hearted sense of humor and his sincere modesty toward his Japanese colleagues even though his stay in Japan was only a little less than two months. After his death, the NDL received Verner Clapp's books and other materials related to library studies as a donation from Mrs. Dorothy Clapp. In doing this she was carrying out the wishes of Clapp, who always expressed his gratitude for having been involved in the foundation of the NDL. The collection has been named "Clapp Collection" to honor his achievements. |
Collection
After the collection was received by the NDL in 1973, it was open to the public in the Library and Information Science Materials Room until the Room was abolished in 2002. After a 2-year closing, the collection has been made available again in the Collection Corner of the Humanities Room since June 2004, with other special collections such as the Nunokawa Collection and the Ashihara Collection.
The Clapp Collection consists of 343 books and 256 leaflets whose themes are all related to library matters -- abstracting, bibliography, biography, cataloging, copyright, documentation, education, history, libraries, management, microform, paper, preservation, research, technical information and UNESCO. Many of the materials in the collection have Verner Clapp's signature and date on the flyleaf. There is even a book which has his memo attached with adhesive tape. The collection helps us to understand Verner Clapp's broad interests and depth of knowledge in the field. The collection also must be a basis of the sources for his numerous writings on a wide range of topics.
The following are a few examples from the collection.
Library of Congress publications
| Title: | Annual report of the Librarian of Congress ... |
| Publisher: | Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. |
| Date: | 1866-1970 |
| NDL call no.: | UL231-3 |
1866 edition
Verner Clapp worked for the Library of Congress (LC) of the U.S. for 33 years (1922-1956), eventually becoming Chief Associate Librarian, next to the top. The complete set of LC annual reports in Clapp Collection started from the 1866 edition, which was made by the then Librarian of Congress, Ainsworth Rand Spofford, who transformed LC into an institution of national significance. The 1866 annual report is only 5 pages long while the 1970 report has 169 pages. The reports show that the accessions to the library were only 7,251 volumes during the year 1866, which increased to 1,426,609 volumes during the year 1970.
The Clapp Collection contains many other LC publications, most of which were published while Verner Clapp was in office.
Council on Library Resources
| Title: | The state of the library art |
| Publisher: | Graduate School of Library Services, Rutgers, the State University, N.J. |
| Date: | 1960-1961 |
| Description: | 5 volumes, 9 books |
| NDL call no.: | call no. varies for each book |
This is the work that the Council on Library Resources (CLR) helped to create while Verner Clapp was its first president. When CLR was founded in 1956, it needed to overview the state of the art in the library field, and decided to give a grant to Rutgers University to compile this series. Verner Clapp's name is included in the advisory committee of this publication. This is a good source to look at to see the work of librarians of those days.
Verner Clapp's writings
| Title: | Copyright : A librarian's view |
| Author: | Verner W. Clapp. Prepared for the National Advisory Commission on Libraries |
| Publisher: | Copyright Committee, Association of Research Libraries, Washington, D.C. |
| Date: | 1968 |
| NDL call no.: | AU-464-6 |
The Clapp Collection contains many of Verner Clapp's writings, including preprints. This is one of Verner Clapp's most significant works. Verner Clapp participated in the initial revision of the Copyright Act. His views as a librarian are still valid and relevant in this age of digital information.
Catalog
All the materials in the Clapp Collection have been cataloged and can be searched in the Clapp Collection's card catalog located in the Humanities Room. It can also be searched on the NDL OPAC, though the OPAC does not include information on which titles belong to the Clapp Collection.
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The U.S. Library Mission to Japan It was only 6 months after Verner Clapp became Chief Associate Librarian at the Library of Congress that he was requested to chair the U.S. Library Mission to Japan in 1947. The Mission's role was to advise on the foundation of Japan's parliamentary library. Charles Harvey Brown, then honorary Librarian of Iowa State University, accompanied him to Japan. The two men arrived in Japan on December 14, 1947. They worked together with their Japanese counterparts to prepare a draft of the National Diet Library Law. The Mission's passionate and sincere attitude, willingly giving up the Christmas and New Year holidays, moved Japanese officials and members of the Diet, and made the difficult task of creating a library literally from scratch much easier. The National Diet Library Law passed the Diet on February 4, 1948, by unanimous vote with acclaim. All the members present in the Chamber also applauded Verner Clapp and Charles Brown, who were sitting in the gallery, in recognition of their generous advice and tireless efforts. In 1968, about 20 years after the Law passed the Diet, when the new building of the NDL (the present main building of the Tokyo Main Library) was completed, Verner Clapp and his wife were invited to the opening ceremony in recognition of his contribution to the NDL. He is said to have been overjoyed to see the great progress made by the library that he had helped come into existence 20 years earlier. He was decorated with the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold and Silver Star (Kun-Nito Zuihosho) by the government of Japan, which became one of his most cherished honors among many professional awards. Verner Clapp's distinguished service to librarianship is vast. However, he was said to have been most proud of his leading role in the founding of the NDL. His kind and deep affection for the NDL is crystallized in the Clapp Collection. |
Biography
of Verner W. Clapp(1901-1972)
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